Fire-resistant cabinet



Patented Jan. 16, 1923.

UhllTlilE ditTE-tt l arner ENOCH OHNSTEAND, OF MOHAVIK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LIBRARY BUREAU, OF CA'MBEIDGE, :MASSAGI-IUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW] JERSEY.

FIRE-RESISTANT CABINET.

T 0 all whom it many concern Be it known that I, ENoci- OHNsrRAND, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Mohawk in the county of Herkimer and State of New York have invented new and useful Improvements in Fireellesistant Cabinets, of which the following is a. specification. i

This invention relates in general to improvements in fire-resistant cabinets such as vaults, safes, filing cases, etc, and in par ticular to the provision for maintaining a tight joint between the walls of the cabinet and the door or doors therefor.

When a cabinet of this character is subjected to heat as in a fire it frequently happens that the sides of the cabinet bulge outwardly as a result of expansion and contraction and produce a crack or opening be tween the door and the adjacent sides of the cabinet up to three quarters of an inch in width, or more depending upon the size of the door and the thickness of the cabinet walls. the crack or opening frequently developing to the greatest extent in the cooling of the cabinet following the intense heat. The door hinges are unable to resist such a strain and are usually so deformed that the contents of the cabinet are exposed to the fire and water and after the fire it is diflicult to open the door. In addition a permanent set is produced in the walls of the cabinet so that the latter is rendered unfit for fur ther service without extensive and costly repairs.

Objects of the invention are to prevent the development of cracks or openings between the walls of fire-resistant cabinets and their doors. better to safeguard the, contents of such cabinets during and following a tire. to protect the hinges of such cabinets against shea ing strains and deformation due to bulgi. o of the cabinet walls to prevent permanent deformation of the walls adjacent the doors of such cabinets. and in general to improve the construction of such. cabinets.

The invention comprises providing the swinging door nd easing of a fire-resistant cabinet with overlapping portions and further providing a projection or lug upon one of said portions received in an opening or recess in the other portion when the door is closed. The portion of the door which overlaps the casing may be an integral part of the door, or a member or plate fast thereon,

such as one part of the hinge upon which the door pivots. The lug or projection is preferably substantially tangential to the arc of. swing; of the door or substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door when closed. The opening in which the lug or projection is received may extend entirely through its portion of the door or casing. lVhen the part of the hinge fast or integral with the door is made use of as the aforesaid overlapping portion, the hinge is pivoted to the casing at a point spaced from the edge of the opening normally closed by the door.

In order to illustrate the invention one concrete embodiment thereof is shown in. the accompanyin drawings. in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a heat resisting cabinet showing the features of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

The embodiment of the invention shown for the purpose of illustration comprises a lire-resistant cabinet of usual appearance havin a i raineworlr of angle iron 3 enclosinc" the edges of the cabinet. the parts making; up the framework being suitably united at the corners. The walls of the cabinet are of the usual construction comprising outer and inner metallic casings 4t and 5 respectively. the intervening; space being filled with a suitable heat insulating material 6. The cabinet is provided. with double doors 7 and 8. the usual. bolt operatinphandles 9. and combination lock 10.

Doors 7 and 8 are pivoted to the cabinet by means of hinges comprising parts 1.1 inten'ral with or attached to the doors in any suitable manner as by welding; 01' riveting:

and the parts 15% fast u 'ion the cabinet itself. 5

The pivots 13 of the hi v ar cod troin the edges of the door opei 1e oahi e and in he embodiment shown on re at the corners of the structure. Adjacent portions of the cabinet and the doors are provided. with rei forcing plates or strips 14; and 15 respectively.

According to the present invention the hinge portions 16 of the doors overlap the adjacent portions of the cabinet. overlapping; hinge portions are provided with recesses or openings 1? receiving, when the door is closed, a projection or lug 18 fast in the cabinet and disposed substantially tangential to the arc of swing of the These door or perpendicular to the plane defined by the doors in their closed position. This lug has an axial reduced portion 19 forming a shoulder 20 which rests upon one face of angle member 3, the lug being tightly clamped in place by means of a nut 21 threaded on its exposed inner end and contacting reinforcing strip 14.

Suiiicient clearance is provided between openings 17 and lugs 18 to permit the hinges to swing freely in opening and closing the doors but the clearance is not great enough to permit substantial separation of the doors from the casing during the expansion or contraction of the structure in or after a fire.

VVhena cabinet of this type is subjected to intense heat, the top and bottom portions thereof are substantially underformed by expansion due to the rigid frame of relatively short angle irons 3. The long vertical portions, however, adjacent the doors tend to warp or bulge outwardly and separate from the doors, this warping frequently occurring in the cooling stage following a fire. The short lugs 18 firmly anchored in the long frame members 3 and engaged by the overlapping portions 16 of the hinge members, which are integral or fast to the door, effectively withstand the outward movement of frame members 3, thus protecting the cabinet from distortion and the hinge pivots 13 from injury.

I claim:

1. A fire-resistant cabinet comprising a casing having an opening, a swinging door for closing said opening, portions of the casing and door overlapping when the door is closed, and complemental means on said overlapping portions providing interengaging surfaces substantially perpendicular to the plane of the outer face of the door when closed thereby to restrain bulging of the walls of the safe and the spreading of the cracks between the door and the door casing when the cabinet is subjected to intense heat.

2. A. fireresistant cabinet comprising a casing having an opening therein, a swingingdoor for closing said opening, a portion of said door overlapping a portion of said casing when the door is closed,, one of said portions having a pin whose inner side is substantially tangential to the arc of swing of the door, and the other of said portions having a socket adapted to receive said pin when the door is closed 3. A fire-resistant cabinet comprising a casing having an opening therein, a swinging door for closing said opening, a portion fast to said door overlapping a fixed portion of said casing when the door is closed, one of said portions having a pin whose inner side is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door when closed, and theother of said portions having a socket adapted to receive said pin when the door is closed.

4. A fire-resistant cabinet comprising a casing having an opening therein, a door to close said opening, and a hinge having one partfast on said door and the other part fast tosaid casing, said parts being pivoted together at a point spaced from the. edgeof said opening whereby a portion of said first named part of said hinge overlaps a portion of the casing, said casing and said overlapping portion of said hinge having an interfitting lug and socket engagement when the door is closed to restrain the crack between the door and easing from spreading.

5. A fire-resistant cabinet comprising a casing having an opening therein, a door to close said opening, a hinge having one part fast on said door, and the vother part fast to said. casing, said parts being pivoted together at a point spaced from the edge of said first named part of said opening whereby a portion of said hinge overlaps a portion of the casing, a projection on said casing, and a recess in said overlapping portion of said hinge arranged to receive said projection when said door is closed.

6. In a fire-resistant cabinet having double doors and hinges having parts fast on said cabinet and other parts fast on the doors, said parts being pivoted together at points spaced from the edges of the opening closed by the doors whereby the, parts of said hinges attached to the doors overlap portions of the sides ofthe cabinet, means for preventing outward bulging of the sides of the cabinet comprising openings in said last named parts of the hinges cooperating with lugs on the overlapped portions of the cabinet when the doors are closed.

Signed by me at Mohawk, N. Y., this 24th day of January, 1922. j

I 1 ENOCH OHNSTRAND. 

